


Grey Mary

by Mice



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: M/M, Pre-Relationship, Winter Veil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:47:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28047936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mice/pseuds/Mice
Summary: Mathias Shaw meets a contact at the Curious Octopus and encounters a Winter Veil tradition from Drustvar.
Relationships: Flynn Fairwind/Mathias Shaw
Comments: 16
Kudos: 31





	Grey Mary

**Author's Note:**

> Grey Mary is based on the Welsh Mari Lwyd tradition. I figured Drustvar would probably be just the place for rap battles with a singing horse skull who wanted your beer.

The Curious Octopus was busy that evening. Mathias sat at a table near the back, where he could watch the door and waited for his contact. While he rarely indulged in alcohol himself, he often found himself in taverns and inns to talk with people. The Drustvar situation was still developing, and it was in the Alliance's interest to get reports from reliable sources.

He was waiting for Inquisitor Cleardawn, to learn more about the alleged witches in the region and the types of magic they used. A dwarven bard was performing by the big hearth. The fire was warm and bright, and Winter Veil was just around the corner. The weather in Boralus was usually miserable, in Mathias's opinion, and winter was even moreso. Tonight, there was a light snow falling, dusting the rooftops and the sides of the streets where people hadn't yet trampled it away.

Cleardawn entered and looked around, spotting him. She nodded to him and he gestured for her to join him at the table. She ordered a drink at the bar before she came to sit with him. "Inquisitor Cleardawn."

"Master Shaw. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. Your emissary's told me a little about you." She took a chair and set her mug on the table.

Not too much, he hoped. "The pleasure is mine," he said. "I understand from my people in the region that Lord and Lady Waycrest went missing some time back."

"Oh, aye. Lucy's been trying to find out. We're doing our best to deal with the witches, but Corlain is still in their hands. It's a tough fight, and the drust are giving them a great deal of power."

They had been speaking for a while of the Order of Embers' plans to take down the magical barriers that defended Upper Corlain when Mathias heard a commotion of bells and music from outside the door. The bard stopped playing and Cleardawn looked up. A vaguely familiar voice started singing outside.

_Innkeep and house dwellers, Grey Mary is here_  
_for luck and good sailing just give her some beer!_

The innkeeper laughed. She looked over at the inquisitor. "That's your lot, Joan. You know the whole thing better than me."

Cleardawn stood and went to the door, laughing. "Oh, aye, I'll deal with it." She sang back,

_You stay out Grey Mary, you've not earned our trust,_  
_you're brigands or witches or maybe the drust!_

Mathias got up to go see what was happening. Outside the door, a small group of Kul Tirans stood around a tall figure draped in a white sheet, with a horse's skull clacking its jaws. The costume was decorated with ribbons and holly, with huge glass baubles in bone white eye sockets. The person with the skull was dancing and sang another verse as a couple of the men with him played instruments.

_Good luck for your fishing and wind in your sails_  
_if you let Mary in and you give her some ale!_

The men with Grey Mary were cheering and rattling cups with coins in them and some of the people who'd gathered in the street were dropping coins into them.

Cleardawn responded again, raising her mug to the group.

_You think that you're lucky and bringing good cheer_  
_but Grey Mary's bones are what young children fear._

The skull clacked its jaws again and the group with him laughed. Grey Mary made a passable attempt to imitate a horse's whinny but dissolved into slightly drunken giggling before continuing the exchange.

_It's cold out and snowing so give us some rum_  
_or you'll never be lucky, you greedy old bum!_

Cleardawn looked to the innkeeper, who nodded. 

"Let 'em in," the innkeep said.

Cleardawn grinned and sang,

_Grey Mary come in, with your luck and good cheer_  
_with Winter Veil blessings, and drink up your beer!_

The group outside cheered and played another verse of the song as Grey Mary danced into the place. The innkeeper set up mugs for them all. "Welcome, Grey Mary," she shouted, "here's a beer for your luck!"

Grey Mary danced around and visited all the tables in the place, and then came over to Mathias and Cleardawn and poked them with the skull's nose. "Master Shaw! Didn't expect to see you here!"

"Fairwind?"

Flynn Fairwind shrugged out of the sheet and set the skull on a table, hurrying over to the bar for his drink. "The one and only!"

"What was all this?" Mathias asked, gesturing to the skull costume. 

"It's an old Drustvar Winter Veil tradition," Cleardawn said, smiling. She and Flynn tapped their mugs together.

"You're not from Drustvar," Mathias said.

Flynn smiled and raised his mug. "What part of 'free beer' were you not understanding?" he asked, laughing. The group he'd entered with were now playing Winter Veil songs with the bard. "We'll have a couple here and move on to the next place. It's a great tradition, and really lucky, especially for the person who's Grey Mary. Every sailor wants some good luck for the new year. Want to come round with us? Have a little fun? We could even let you be Grey Mary!"

Mathias chuckled and shook his head. "I'd have no idea what to do, and I really don't drink that much."

"Ah, loosen up, Master Shaw," the Inquisitor said. She looked over at Flynn. "I'll be Grey Mary for the next go-round. I'm Inquisitor Joan Cleardawn. The Order of Embers can use all the good luck we can get." She turned back to Mathias. "I can fill you in on more as we go, no problem, but this just means we can have fun while we do it."

"Captain Flynn Fairwind at your service." Flynn bowed to Cleardawn with a grandiose flourish that nearly sloshed beer from his mug. "You'd both be welcome to join our company! Give Grey Mary a proper Drustvarian accent for the evening, and a blessing on you for fighting those witches. Nasty buggers." Flynn slung an arm over Mathias's shoulders. "She's right, mate, you should loosen up a bit. You don't have to get trousered with us, but you look like you could use a little music and good cheer."

Mathias sighed and shook his head. As Kul Tiran traditions went, this seemed harmless enough, and a little good luck was never a bad idea. "All right, then," he said. "But I'm not going to sing."

Flynn laughed, his arm tightening around Mathias's shoulders. "Welcome aboard, mate, and the blessings of Winter Veil to you."


End file.
